The verdict in three sentences
For a developer handing over 400 homes a year with 25 subcontractors, tracking snags in Excel and email mostly costs close-out time: 45 to 60 days on average, with buyers chasing and retentions stuck. A construction SaaS such as Snagr, Fieldwire or Procore starts fast but charges 50 to 150 EUR per user per month, without a portal designed for your subcontractors or your customer care team. A custom app scoped in 10 weeks, with geolocated photos pinned on drawings and a subcontractor portal, pays for itself from year two at this volume.
The real cost of tracking snags in Excel
In Dublin, as across Ireland's new homes market, handing over a scheme of 60 to 120 units typically generates 8 to 15 snags per home during pre-handover inspections and buyer walk-throughs. Across 400 homes, that is 3,200 to 6,000 snags a year, spread over 25 trades (plumbing, joinery, painting, electrical, groundworks).
The usual workflow: the site manager takes photos on a phone, copies them into a spreadsheet, emails each trade, then chases. Nobody knows in real time which snag is closed, disputed or waiting for re-inspection.
| Indicator (2026 order of magnitude) | Excel + email | Dedicated app |
|---|---|---|
| Logging time per snag | 6 to 8 min | 1 to 2 min (photo + pin on drawing) |
| Average time to full close-out | 45 to 60 days | 20 to 30 days |
| Manual chasers per trade package | 4 to 6 | 1 to 2 (automatic reminders) |
| Lost or duplicated snags | 5 to 8 % | under 1 % |
| Buyer complaints to aftercare | 1.5 per home | 0.6 per home |
| Visibility for technical director | weekly, partial | real-time dashboard |
The heaviest hidden cost remains the retention, typically 3 to 5 % of the contract value: as long as snags stay open it is held, and trades rarely hurry on packages already 95 % paid.
SaaS or custom app: the numbers
Market tools are solid for field capture. Their limits show when you want a simple subcontractor portal, a link to your buyer CRM, or per-trade statistics to inform future tenders.
| Criterion | Construction SaaS (market) | Custom app (market) | Kolonell grid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | 0 to 3,000 EUR setup | 15,000 to 35,000 EUR excl. VAT | 4,000,000 to 7,000,000 FCFA, i.e. 6,100 to 10,670 EUR excl. VAT |
| Recurring cost (15 internal users) | 750 to 2,250 EUR per month | hosting 50 to 150 EUR per month | maintenance 75,000 FCFA per month, i.e. 110 EUR |
| Subcontractor access | often paid per seat | unlimited | unlimited |
| Geolocated photos on PDF drawings | yes | yes, on your drawings | yes |
| Link to buyer CRM and aftercare | limited, via export | native | native |
| Data ownership | with the vendor | with you | with you, source code delivered |
| Time to go live | 2 to 4 weeks | 10 to 14 weeks | 10 weeks |
SaaS and agency figures are 2026 market estimates. The Kolonell grid corresponds to a medium-complexity app: offline field app, annotatable PDF drawings, subcontractor portal, automatic reminders and management dashboard.
The functional scope to define
An effective snagging app needs few modules, provided they are defined precisely during scoping.
- Offline field capture: photo, pin on drawing, trade, contractor, severity, in under 90 seconds, even in a basement with no signal.
- Subcontractor portal: each trade sees only its own snags, marks them fixed with a photo, and the site manager approves or rejects.
- Automatic reports: generation of the pre-handover inspection report and the buyer handover report as a signed PDF.
- Dashboard: open snags per scheme and per trade, average close-out time, trade league table.
- Aftercare link: defects reported during the liability period enter the same tool.
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Illustrative example: Ciarán, technical director of a Dublin developer, hands over 400 homes a year with 12 site managers and 3 customer care staff.
- SaaS option: 15 internal users at 90 EUR per month, i.e. 16,200 EUR a year and 48,600 EUR over 3 years, subcontractor portal not included.
- Custom option: 9,500 EUR excl. VAT build, plus 110 EUR per month maintenance and 80 EUR hosting, i.e. 2,280 EUR a year. Total over 3 years: 16,340 EUR.
- Time saved: 5,000 snags a year, 5 minutes saved per snag, around 415 hours, the equivalent of 0.25 FTE of site manager time.
Over 3 years the gap exceeds 32,000 EUR in favour of custom, before counting faster release of retentions.
FAQ
How much does a custom snagging app cost in 2026?
On the Irish and UK market, expect 15,000 to 35,000 EUR excl. VAT depending on modules. On the Kolonell grid, a medium-complexity app sits between 4,000,000 and 7,000,000 FCFA, i.e. 6,100 to 10,670 EUR excl. VAT.
Does the app work without signal on site?
Yes, it is a scoping prerequisite. Snags are stored on the phone and synced as soon as signal returns, with conflict handling if two people edit the same snag.
Do subcontractors need to pay for a seat?
No. The subcontractor portal includes unlimited accounts, avoiding the 30 to 60 EUR per seat per month charged by some SaaS tools.
How long until go-live?
Allow 10 weeks: 2 weeks scoping, 6 weeks build, 2 weeks acceptance testing on a pilot scheme. Rollout across all schemes follows within 2 to 4 weeks.
Can we import our Excel history?
Yes, importing open snags from live schemes usually takes 2 to 3 days. Closed schemes can stay archived read-only.
Let's scope your project. Send us your annual unit volume, number of trades and current tools, and we will price a snagging app within the 4,000,000 to 7,000,000 FCFA range (6,100 to 10,670 EUR excl. VAT) with a 10-week plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
